Naruto: Under the stars in Iwa
by KyuubiNibi
Summary: A long three-shot about Naruto meeting Kurotsuchi at the Iwa Jonin exams where they are partnered up, changes from the canon and each part will be 10k words or so


Hey guys here is the new story I have been promising you all, it is going to be NaruXKuro story, most likely a two or three part story of around ten thousand words each part and will be updated inconsistently but mostly every tie I get a chance or so. I love reviews cuz it lets me know what to do next even if I have the story planned out and will always answer any PM's in either the next chapter or by PM, same goes for reviews

**Side Notes: Naruto and Kurama teamed up when Naruto was pinned down to the ground by pain, so that means Naruto never met his father inside of the seal or his mother but, Jiraiya told him when he finished his sage training and he never had to train with Kirabi to take control. Also Tsunade wakes up earlier than in canon. Hinata died in the pein attack. Naruto can perform the Rasengan without even using his other hand and his Rasenshuriken requires both hands.**

* * *

"I, love you Naruto."

He looked confused and then angry at the pink haired girl

"What, what did you just say Sakura? I think I'm hearing funny" Naruto asked with his expression turning into a frown

"I said, that I love you Naruto, and that Sasuke doesn't mean anything to me anymore, you can forget that silly promise you made to me. You really should listen more carefully when a girl confesses her feelings to you."

His shocked expression turned hard and cold while he scrunched up his eye browns and narrowed his eyes.

"But why? why come out all the way here to the land of Iron just to tell me this?"

"Just to tell you... are you insane?! Of course I would come out to tell you how I feel!"

"Then what changed?! I have asked you to be my girlfriend countless times and you laughed at me and said no while other times just used me to get a free meal and get away from your parents! I stopped caring for you when I realized you were just using me as a crutch to shoulder your pain onto me! Oh and you think I was chasing Sasuke for you? I just wanted my best friend back! And that promise, I'm not stupid Sakura I heard what you really said! Oh Naruto, bring Sasuke back to _ME_? You just wanted your precious Sasuke-kun back so you could fawn over him some more and still get rejected!"

**"Naruto, you make me so proud! finally telling off that Sakura bitch!" Kurama cheered with pride evident in his voice**

"Uh-I... what is wrong with you Naruto! You know what forget I even said anything, it never meant anything anyways!" she yelled as she stomped away and pulled Kiba with her.

Naruto was left with an astonished Yamato and Kakashi standing behind him, Yamato was about to speak up but Kakashi beat him to it. "Naruto, you didn't have to be so cruel." Kakashi stated boredly

"I couldn't control myself, I hate people who lie to themselves! Especially in her case, she was just trying to use me! again!"

"I for one think he did the right thing for once." Yamato stated while putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"We should be getting back to Konoha, I wanted to see if the Jonin exams were still being held in Iwagakure. Lets hurry up, I'll even give some of Kurama's chakra to get you guys a little pumped."

**"Do I really have to share my chakra with other shinobi?**" The lazy kitsune asked half asleep

_"I just want to get to Konoha back in time to find out. So yes, although I won't make you if your that lazy."_

**"Eh, you could just do it for me I'll leave the window to my chakra open for you to use."**

"Thanks Kurama"

All Naruto got was a low grunt noise in return, he took a little of his tenants chakra to go into first stage of his tailess bijuu mode. He grabbed Yamato and Kakashi by the shoulders and created a shroud of red and orange chakra free of malice around their entire bodies. Naruto leaped off while Kakashi followed behind him leaving Yamato to get yeled at by the owner of the inn along with the bill.

They had made great time with the Bijuu cloak to boost the energy of the lazy ninja, he could also read his perverted book because he was so energized and focused. The sight of the book had brought back the memories of assisting his sensei, which he had taken a liking to calling Ero-Sennin literally meaning Pervy sage in writing the next installment of Icha Icha Paradise. he had called it gold and Naruto had called it garbage, but hey one mans trash is another mans perverted fantasy, or something like that...

They arrived within a day of departure from the inn and Naruto was received with a crowed of cheering villagers and another of fawning fan-girls. the village was stil under construction from the attack from pain and one of the first things they did was to replace the gate "Is this what it was like for Sasuke? Now I sort of feel bad for the Teme." Naruto mumbled to himself

Naruto discretely exchanged himself with a shadow clone that was complaining about his job of always being the diversion and how they should switch roles some time. He made his way through the roof tops to the hospital building were Tsunade was being treated at while under her coma.

He stopped right out side the door because he heard sobbing that sounded like it was coming from Shizune inside the room. He quickly burst into the room thinking something had gone wrong and Tsunade had died or something else had happened. To his amazement he saw Tsunade being held up in the arms of Shizune with her eyes wide open showing she had come out of her coma making Naruto realize that Shizune was crying tears of joy.

"Oba-chan!" He yelled as he ran forward to give his surrogate grandmother a hug.

"Ah, gaki I just came out of that coma, don't you think I need a little breather?" she grunted out while being crushed by Naruto's bear hug.

"Sorry, I was just so worried! Now you can go back to being Godaime Hokage and Danzo can get evicted!"

"What?! Danzo became Rokudaime Hokage?"

"Yeah he did and he is at the five Kage summit, he also wasn't even going to let me go to the jonin exams in Iwagakure!" Naruto complained.

"Wait, Jonin exams? you aren't even a chunin yet how are you going to the jonin exams?"

"I got promoted, they said you either get promoted out in the field or in and exam."

"Then where is you're flack jacket?"

"I prefer my sage jacket."

"If you are a chunin now then there is going to be an announcement later today in the village." She mumbled to herself

"What was that Oba-chan?"

"nothing, its a secret and you will have to wait until later today to find out."

"Awe come on if your going to tell me I have to wait to know then why tell me? At least give me a hint!"

"Alright but after this no more bugging me about it!"

"Deal!"

Tsunade leaned in and whispered into his ear "It's about your family"

This left Naruto in shock with his mouth wide open as she walked out of the room leaving him there by himself to think about what she had just said.

**That Afternoon**

The village had all been gathered to the new hokage mansion that had been recently built while Tsunade was in a coma. She grabbed Naruto by the wrist and took him to the ledge that overlooked the rest of the villagers that had gathered to hear the announcement. When they saw Naruto they all had cheered for him in unison until they were quieted down by Tsunade enough to speak without interruption.

"now, I see that you all know Naruto now as a hero instead of a village nuisance he was six years ago, or so I hear." naruto just rubbed the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly. "But there is another truth about him that I believe that he is ready to bear the burden of, there are actually two burdens he must carry for the rest of his life. On that night sixteen years ago the village was attacked by the Kyuubi no Kitsune and was nearly destroyed until it was saved by the fourth hokage. The Yondaime did not kill the Fox but rather sealed it inside of a new born baby, his very son was that new born baby."

The audience gasped at this news and were now looking around and amongst themselves to figure out who looks most like the fourth or who could possibly hold that demon within them. There were also shouts saying that it was a lie and that the fourth hokage did indeed kill the beast.

"I assure you that this is the truth because that new born baby was actually the hero of Konohagakure no Sato the very Naruto Uzumaki! Well not Uzumaki any more anyways."

She ushered Naruto forward with one hand on his back, though he did not bulge from his spot to move forward but instead stood there utterly shocked by the news of his parents.

"His mother is also konoha's very own red death, Kushina Uzumaki. Now most of you see Naruto in an even better light than you did a minute ago and very few of you are debating whether he is a demon or savior. He is not the demon he hods, he is just the jailer, a warden even and the Kyuubi is his prisoner."

Naruto now snapped out of his dazed state to say a few word on his and his tenants behalf. "May i say something?" He got a reassuring nod from his "Grandmother"

"I just wanted to ask of you, the villagers to treat me no different than you did yesterday. I don't want to live in my Tou-sans shadow but rather in my own lime light. Don't get me wrong I'm proud to be the son of the fourth Hokage, and I'll even be changing my last name to Namikaze." he simply stated putting up one finger as if preparing to say another thing.

"Do not pity me because of what I hold, I don't think of it as a curse but rather that of a blessing. At first when I learned of my burden I wanted nothing but to get it out of me but I have learned to use it to my advantage."

There were many shouts of various questions but the one that caught his attention was one asking if he had conquered the demon inside of him and he heard it multiple times.

"To answer the question of 'Have I conquered the demon inside of me?' the answer is no."

Another amount of murmurs and questions were unleashed as he prepared his next sentence.

"I have not conquered him neither will I ever, I won't because I have befriended the fox and were are now working together, the seal is open so I may use his chakra. This also has the risk that if he wishes to escape that he may, but I want to be able to trust him and so far I have been able to."

Naruto left it at that and walked back into the building along with Tsunade but not before she dismissed the crowd to go back to working on the village. Naruto was starting to walk out of the room until Tsunade grabbed him by the arm and held him steady and asked him

"What did you mean by befriended the fox? I thought he hated you?"

"It happened in the fight with pain."

**Flash Back**

"Give up you have no more senjustu chakra left and you are pinned down." Pain stated calmly

'Maybe he's right, what if this was all just a waste? All of this training and effort all for nothing!'

**"Who are you? The Naruto I know would struggle unil he was down to his last limb, then he would keep going beyond that. This Naruto is nothing compared the one I have come to know, he would be ashamed."**

"You're probably right but what can I do? I'm beat, I have no more Sennin chakra and I'm pinned down." He said looking down and dejected util he flt the foxes presence becoming ever increasingly closer until it was just and arms length away. He looked up and saw the foxes hand in a fist and a grin adorning his face.

"I'm not in the mood to play chakra tug of war."

**"We don't have to, I can just give it to you."**

"Whats the catch?"

**"... You beat pain."**

Naruto had a grin begin to curl around his lips until he had a big toothy smile that was replicated by the fox, he moved his hand toward the foxes while creating a fist and finally touching together until their chakra's mixed together and the cage swung wide open.

"Lets do this!/**Lets do this!**"

**End Flash Back**

"Wow, so would that make you a perfect jinchuriki?"

Naruto shrugged and responded "Don't know I haven't tried the full transformation, that reminds me can you check if the jonin exams are still being held in Iwa for me?"

"Sure, that'll just take a second, normally I would tell you to not go but I think since we have an alliance with the other nations that you'll be fine plus you have the fox."

"Kurama."

"What?"

"His name is Kurama"

"Oh okay then." she said confused as to why that mattered.

"Yeah the Jonin exams are still going to proceed in a weeks time, if you want to make it I suggest that you leave today at the latest."

"Thank's Oba-chan!" he said as he ran out of the building going straight to his new apartment to pack some more clothes

**Later that Day**

Naruto was seen walking through the village with a back pack for come clothes and his extra supplies he had walked out of the village gates and was greeted usually by Isumo and Kotetsu asking him were he was going if he had just gotten back from the land of Iron. He gave them a brief little summary of where he was going and that he was going to be competing in the Jonin exams.

The two had been surprised that Naruto wasn't already a Jonin since he was currently the strongest shinobi in the entire village surpassing even Tsunade and Kakashi. He kept walking by as he talked until he was to far away and just said his good byes to the two eternal gate guards.

He jumped into a tree looked around for a minute before saying to himself "I guess I'm flying solo this time." and jumping off into the next branch.

**Iwagakure Tsuchikages Office**

"So, Jiji did you hear?"

"What do you want Kurotsuchi? I'm busy."

"I was just going to tell you that there was an announcement in Konoha and the son of the yellow flash was revealed."

"Hmm, what does that have to do with anything?"

"He is also coming here for the Jonin exams. Come on, what are you really thinking? Don't you want to kill him? He's the son of the yellow flash he needs to die! He's a monster!"

"I will do nothing of the sort! Kurotsuchi The other four kage and myself have worked very have too solidify this treaty, I will do nothing to mess it up and give the enemy time to strike."

"Awe come on you were never like this before that stupid meeting!"

"Kurotsuchi I want you to leave my office, you are beginning to annoy me!"

"Whatever old man." She said as she walked out of his office.

**With Naruto**

Naruto was lazily jumping from tree to tree and it had been five days since he left Konoha and he was beginning to run out of instant ramen packets...

He was approaching the boulders that surrounded Iwagakure and then was led into the maze by the trail he had taken, he wanted to get a better look so he attempted to scale a boulder using his chakra, but every time he tried he would slip right off.

"Guess that's why they call it the village hidden in the stone, a lot more effective than the forests surrounding Konoha"

He followed the path until he finally reached the gate that showed the entrance to the village, there was also two gate guards in this village and that made him wonder if every village had two eternal gate guards, but he just shrugged it off. He slowly walked up to and before they asked for identification he already had his shinobi passport that had been recently updated after the announcement in his village.

One of the gate guards looked in shock at the booklet while the other just asked him what was wrong, Naruto didn't really care to much though and just grinned a little "I'm here for the Jonin selection exams"

Naruto walked right by the two while one had their jaw hanging and barely recovering and the other trying to calm him down while watching Naruto walk down the street. He walked lazily down the street while whistling to himself and pretending not to notice the glares he was receiving from the Iwa shinobi.

He kept up his lazy smile until he got to his hotel room that he had reserved via messenger bird the day he left the village, he set down his things in his room after the receptionist reluctantly gave him his room key. He jumped into bed and slung his hands behind his back and sighed to himself thinking it was going to be a rough month ahead of him.

**Next Day**

The contestants and participants of the Jonin exams had gathered in an academy school room waiting to be explained the first test by the proctor who was currently a Jonin himself. Once he entered the room everyone already there went quiet and were waiting for him to begin the exams, he cleared his throat once before begining.

"Alright, I assume most of you have gone through the Chunin selection exams before, this will be nothing even close to that. This will be an actual life or death situation unlike those that you have faced before. Those of you with a last name starting with N through Z please step aside, those of you with the last name starting with A through M will be choosing a name at random from this glass bowl, they will be your partner for the remainder of the exams."

Naruto along with half of the shinobi there followed his instructions and stepped to the side while the remainder walked forward and lined up in single file order as to show discipline. One by one they drew a card from the hat and stepped back down from the stage to find their partner.

"This will simulate joint operations between nations to strengthen bonds, if your partner dies and you make it to the end you fail, if you die and your partner makes it, they fail it's as simple as that."

The rest got their cards and proceeded to start reading it out loud in hopes there partner would hear, by now the two groups had merged back together and some where bickering over getting a bad village or seemingly weak team mate. Then there was one girl who made her self stand out completely by just yelling "What? Are you kidding me?! Anyone but him, please!"

"I'm sorry but once you draw you may not change partners." the proctor replied.

"Fine, but I'm going to hate every second of this!" She yelled

She stomped down from the stage and started asking everyone who had continued their loud talking if they were named Naruto. Until she saw someone from across the room who had shaggy blond hair that stood out from across the room who was just smiling and looking at the ground with his back against the wall and his feet crossed. She knew who he was immediately and walked right up to him and asked forcefully on her part "Your the Namikaze, right?"

He didn't even look up at her until he began to speak but he kept smiling naturally "Actually, I'd rather go bye Naruto if you don't mind."

She felt the warm aura radiating off of him and it soothed her anger for a second but came back as soon as it left. "What difference does it make anyways?!"

"For one I'm not my father, while I do take pride in the name I don't want to be him or live in his shadow."

This struck a cord for Kurotsuchi who all her life had been treated with respect, but not for who she was but for who her grandfather was. She would always hate it when she was called "honorable granddaughter" or in a respectful way because of her heritage.

"I still don't like you or even being around you, but I do know what you mean." she replied less heatedly

"Why don't we take a couple minutes to get to know each other maybe it would help?"

"Pff, as if, I'd never be caught dead talking to you!"

"Eh, you'll lighten up eventually."

She turned her head and made a "Hmph" noise signifying her noncooperation.

"Can I at least get your name? I can't really work with you if I don't know it, now can I?"

"Kurotsuchi" she mumbled

"What was that?"

"I said Kurotsuchi! You have a hearing problem or something?!"

"You got a mumbling problem or something?" he said in retort to mimic her insult.

They had their attention pulled away as the proctor had continued his instructions on the tasks they to preform, he told everyone to take a seat as it would take a little while to explain and to hold their questions util the end.

"The first part will test you abilities to fend for yourself in the wild, you will be given a symbol to represent your home village, to pass to the next test you must have all five of the symbols. Of your of course you will be sent out with your partner and you will encounter other teams. killing is permitted and the goal is to survive the entire week while at the end and end up with all five different symbols of each village, you may not remove your hitai-ate for the duration of this task, this will be enforced by the hidden cameras we have watching you at all times, this will make it harder to trick any teams you meet. you will be given one day to train or get to know your partner, then tomorrow the exam will begin at eight AM sharp. Any questions?"

No one raised their hands so he took it as such and continued "That will only be the first out of three exams, the others will be explained by separate proctors, you are all dismissed."

Naruto turned to Kurotsuchi and began "So, are we going to train or I doubt it but, get to know each other?"

"I think we should train and get in sync with each other and make it easier for me to be promoted."

"You want to start by talking about your abilities? I could always start if you don't want too."

"Yeah, you go first, we can talk while we get to my training ground." She said as they began walking away from the building.

By this time Naruto knew that most people now knew the fact he was a sage, the son of the yondaime and the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi was well known so he wasn't going to hold back "were to start? Oh, I know, I have mastered the rasengan, many variants of it also, I have mastered senjutsu, I have access to my bijuu's chakra and am able to control it and I have vast reserves of chakra."

"I know a little medical ninjutsu but enough to heal broken bones and fractures at most, I have mastered earth, fire and water manipulation and I have begun working on my kekkai genkai the lava release."

"Wow, impressive." He knew that he would still be able to defeat her and anyone there just with sage mode, he was the most powerful ninja in his village after all.

"Thanks I guess." Then she thought to herself _'Matte, what am I doing I said I wouldn't talk to him! But he's being really nice to me and he just has that warm aura around him that makes me feel so calm and happy... No! He is an enemy, the son of the yellow flash who killed entire platoons in the third shinobi world war!'_ She continued to fight the inner battle with herself until she came to the conclusion to just be neutral with him since he said he doesn't want to be his father.

Naruto noticed her staring at the ground while she was showing different emotions with her facial features that went from neutral, to angry, to peaceful and then back to neutral. It confused him at first but he realized she was fighting an inner battle with herself over him, he decided to attempt to talk to her about it.

"Kurotsuchi." no response and she was still neutral

"Kurotsuchi?" she turned her head toward him and looked at him funny

"What?"

"You spaced out for a little while, you looked troubled anything you want to say?"

"No, I'm fine."

"I know your asking yourself what to think of me, don't. You won't be able to know who _I_ really am, you'll just think of my father every time you look at me instead of seeing me for who I am. Just get to know m a little before you judge me, then when you do you are free to think whatever you like."

Kurotsuchi thought for a second about his proposition and the fact he could read her so well before she responded

"Alright, I'll get to know you."

This brought back his warm jovial smile that had been hidden as he negotiated with the girl.

"I'm glad you changed your mind, my old sensei had a way of getting to know people and I think it would work well here too."

"What was it?"

"When I became a Genin he brought me and my team to a roof top and told us to introduce ourselves, and to tell us what our likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams are. I would like to do the same with you."

"That sounds... reasonable I guess, but you go first."

"I'd be happy to. Lets see I like many things like training, ramen, konoha, hanging with my friends, teaching Konohamaru and obaa-chan..." he was cut short as kurotsuchi interrupted him mid sentence.

"Obaa-chan?"

"Oh, you would know her as Tsunade-sama or Hokage-sama, she's been like a mother to me. but she's a little older than my real mother would be so I call her Obaa-chan." He said cheerfully

"Where was I? Oh yeah my dislikes right? Well I don't have many, I don't like people who look down on the fact that I'm a jinchuriki(I know he wouldn't openly tell her but it ties in better) or people who see bijuu as only sources of power but that's about it. My hobbies are mostly the same as my likes and my dreams are to bring lasting peace to the elemental nations and to become Rokudaime Hokage. Your turn." He said while reminiscing in some old memories

"You're a jinchuriki?"

"Yeah, problem?"

"No I was just thinking, were actually a lot like, I like almost everything you just mentioned, minus the personal stuff, plus I like other things like messing with ojii-chan that would be the tsuchikage, anything to do with medical herbs and even though hes annoying spending time with Akatsuchi. My dislikes are people who respect me not for me but for who my grandfather is, sexist's who think women are inferior, my teme brother Deidara and that baka Akatsuchi, even though I love him. Hobbies are still the same as my likes and my goal is also similar to yours, I want to be the first kunoichi tsuchikage."

"Wow, we are alike, see I'm not all that bad when you open up a little."

"Guess not... Listen, I'm sorry about the way I reacted when I found out I'd be working with you, can we just start over?"

"It's fine don't even sweat it, isn't that what we just did though?" He said with a sly grin at the end

She went slightly red and responded "Oh, yeah sorry."

"It's fine and is this the place?" He asked referring to the large area that had some training dummies and was completely unearthed.

"Yeah, what do you want to start with?" she asked

"Nothing gets the blood flowing like a good spar, so why not start there?"

"That sound good."

"All out or anything specific?"

"How about the first one is taijutsu only, shurikens and kunai are allowed." She said as Naruto was taking off his sage jacket and his jump suit top leaving him in his fishnet shirt.

"Sounds good." He said as he bent over to reach a decently sized rock and asked her if she was ready, which she responded with a curt nod. He grimaced and threw the rock into the air fairly high, they watched it as it came down and Naruto slipped into his sage taijutsu style while not even being in his sage mode. The rock hit the ground and kurotsuchi launched herself across the training ground at Naruto too fast for the untrained eye to see. For Naruto she was relatively easy to see and predict where she would attack, he became slightly unfocused when he started to actually see what she looked like for the first time, he took in her apperance and he thought she looked beautiful.

She had been wearing a standard Iwa kunoichi outfit but a little customized, she had cut off the sleeve on the left side of her shirt and half the skirt on the right side of her body, she wore a flak jacket that did little to flatter her chest and C cupped breasts, She also wore fishnet leggings and a standard Iwa hitai-ate on her for head. She had short hair resembling Shizunes and her eyes were a black color that was mesmerizing.

Naruto shook his head to get himself out of the trance like state he was in for a second and went back into his stance when Kurotsuchi finally reached him. She on the other hand was doing the same thing that Naruto had been doing as she was coming forward at him. She had noticed his defined muscles that weren't over sized but compact and powerful instead. Her cheeks and the over the bridge of her nose turned a light shade of red which she was happy he hadn't noticed, but she was also noticing that he had absolutely no scars on his abdomen which perplexed her as her had been a shinobi all of his life and he is bound to get some scars. Then her eyes drifter over to his abs, he had full non-flexing six-pack abs which made her drool if only for a second even if she would deny it every time.

She shook her head quickly a lot like Naruto had done a second before her which he had seen and wondered why she had, She launched her first attack at him and aimed a swift punch to the gut which was easily blocked as if it was nothing. She followed was a left kick to his hip which he just pushed her leg down with a free hand and jumped right over it again like it was nothing which was beginning to make her angry since he hadn't even attacked he back.

"You are going to have to try a_ lot_ harder than that." He said calmly as she started a barrage of punches that was becoming a little hard for Naruto to follow so he jumped backwards to gain some space. She smirked at the fact she was able to make him retreat, he shift position and launched himself at her at blinding speeds. Her eyes widened and before she knew it she was back on the defensive which was sloppy since she hadn't been able to prepare before he jumped at her.

He landed a solid kick to her thigh which sent her flying to the right, she wasn't able to recover because of the pain while in mid-flight but she ended up sliding backwards while leaning on her other leg and already healing her left leg with medical ninjutsu. She was breathing a little labored but not that badly, she was in pain but it was now being numbed down by the jutsu. She saw him about to jump at her again but before he could she used her free hand to throw some shuriken forcing him to hop to the side and buying herself some time, but not nearly enough.

He jumped forward as soon as he landed and before she knew it she was already pinned to the ground with his forearm holding down her head and chest at the collar bone and the other had a kunai knife at the ready aimed at her neck. He also had his knees holding down hers so she couldn't struggle, when he realized he had won he gave a little grin that made her slightly blush because of the awkward position they were which again he didn't notice. He got up off of her and offered he a hand to get up which she had stared at for a second before lightly gripping it and pulling herself up.

"That was a good match, but I'm sure if it was a ninjutsu match you would have won for sure." He offered reassuringly, he knew that wasn't exactly true but it was the most gentle man like thing he could offer to say at the moment.

"Obviously." She said plainly as if it was the simplest thing in the world, he just dropped his head at the lack of modesty of his kunoichi partner. He lifted his head again with another smile "I'm a little Nara syndrome right now so lets just see what ninjutsu you can do instead of a real sparring match, how does that sound?"

"Nara syndrome?"

"Oh sorry its a little bit of an inside joke between me and my friend Kiba, have you heard of a clan from konoha, the Nara's? Well they are really smart but really lazy and hence I'm feeling a little lazy so I called it Nara syndrome."

She let out a little laugh at his explanation "That makes more sense now that you explain it and yes I'll give you a little showcase of my abilities, so sit back, relax and watch the magic."

He let out a short laugh at her lack of modesty and took a seat on a log a little bit behind her as he would rather not get in the way of he ninjutsu attacks on the straw dummies and logs. He rather appreciated the spot he chose as he was watching he would sneak a little peak at her rear that was filled out and shaped like a heart, and was partly hidden by her long skirt, which when he noticed his patterns slapped himself a little for being like his sensei and god father Jiriaya.

He looked back up and saw her start weaving signs for her yoton jutsu she mentioned she had been practicing when they were walking to the training field, she performed three types, Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu(Lava release: melting Apparition), Yōton: Sekkaigyō no Jutsu(Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing), Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu(Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock). When she had successfully performed all three jutsu she had turned around and gave him a 'Beat that face' while saying, "That last one my uncle Roshi taught me." obviously prideful of her jutsu. He grinned back and said "You still got a little on your lip there." as if he was mocking her a little.

She looked at him for a second and then the words registered in her mind, she threw up her sleeveless arm and channeled a little of her yoton chakra to not be scorched by the lava before wiping it off. She crossed her arms and turned away from him with a cute pout on her face that Naruto only caught a glimpse of. "Whatever, let's see you do any better!"

"Hm, I'm glad you said that Kurotsuchi, I was actually planning on it. I hope you don't mind me destroying you training field." He said as he stood up from the log he had been sitting on. "Also you might want to be behind me, I would want to risk injuring you."

Kurotsuchi was glad she still had her head turned away from Naruto since her cheeks took a light shade of pink at the thought he actually cared for her, it dissipated as soon as the other thought that he only needed her for the exams crossed her mind. She turned her head and got back into her previous attitude before she said "Yeah, yeah like you could destroy the entire training field." she said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Care to make a bet?"He offered

"Yeah, actually that sounds good, how much you want to lose?"

"You mispronounced win, but I'd say as much money as you have on you right now and same for me."

"Sounds like a deal!" she said as she walked up to him and shook on it. as soon as they let go she started to laugh at him which caused him to cock his head before she looked at him stopped laughing briefly "I only have like 5000(50$) ryo on me you baka!"

"Correction, You had 5000 ryo."

"How much did you have on you?"

"Well I left my sage coat over there and it has all my money, so..."

"What!?"

"Kidding, kidding, just relax have 6000 on me right now, soon to be 11,000."

"Just do whatever you're going to do and give me my money."

"As you wish..." He said as he sat down on the dirt cross legged and moved his hands into his meditative form while starting to draw in nature chakra.

"What are you doing?" she questioned him.

He didn't reply as he knew it would only take longer for him to achieve his goal if he did, he stayed meditating and drawing in controlled amounts of natural energy for another thirty seconds or so before his eye lids turned into a sort of orangish color that surrounded both of his eyes and to the sides slightly. He opened his eyes and the pupils were bar like rectangles that were completely black instead of his more usual blue color.

He stood up and looked at her for a second "Nani? I'm not just going to waste good chakra, I'd rather use the natural energy instead, it makes the attack stronger too."

He stuck out his palm and began to create a simple rasengan with his single hand out, then he began channeling his wind chakra into it and it became white with a small orbiting four pointed shuriken lastly he moved his other hand onto it and began to use it to increase the amount of chakra and condense it into a gig ball of white chakra and a shuriken orbiting.

He turned his head slightly and grinned at her expression that was in awe of the condensed rotating ball of chakra. He threw it around seventy feet away and as soon as it hit the ground it expanded at least forty feet in diameter and completely shook the entire field with the explosion that followed. There were strands of white chakra strings that were circulating the giant expanded ball of chakra that could cut chakra coils and permanently disable your use of chakra.

Once the explosion had dissipated he turned over to Kurotsuchi who was still in awe at the amount of chakra that would take to perform, she shook her head again trying to get out of the trance she was in. "H-how?"

"Well, it's a variant of my fathers jutsu the rasengan that I created myself, currently my strongest jutsu but not for long." he said with a sly grin at the end.

"What do you mean for now?"

"Well I haven't been able to test out a full bijuu transformation so I haven't tested out the bijuudama yet, I heard a rumor that Kumo has a perfect jinchuriki and he is able to do both a full transformation and a bijuudama that can destroy mountains." He said with a bit of wonder in his voice.

"You're kidding right?" she sounded histerical

"Nope, and I got the strongest bijuu on my side to boot!"

_**"Damn straight!"**_

_"I thought you were asleep, you lazy fox."_

_"Nah, I usually eas drp on you and your ittle"_

"Although I don't think I'm aloud to use Kurama''s chakra in the competition."

"Kurama?"

"Uhh, must everyone ask? That's the kyuubi's name, Kurama."

"Oh, sorry I didn't know the bijuu had names?"

"Neither did I until about a month ago, oh and I think someone owes me 5000 ryo." Naruto said with a goofy smile

"Really, I wonder who?" she said as sarcastically as she could muster while she took out a bag of money in a small pouch and threw it at him very hard.

"Someones a sore loser." he grinned as he caught the pouch in mid air. "It's already like three, you want to go get something to eat, don't worry its on me, well actually your money, but you get the point."

"Yeah, lunch sounds good, come on I'll show you around." She said hopping away and onto a nearby roof and stood there for a second. "That is, if you think you can keep up?"

She hopped to the next roof and he just smiled to himself and chased after her, she was only a few roofs behind her but he decided to let her take the lead since she actually knew where she was going. Kurotsuchi stopped a minute later over a small store, Naruto jumped over to her and asked "So, whats on the menu?"

"i felt like some sea food, so here we are. Hope you don't mind."

"I usually eat ramen or barbecue but sea food sounds good for a change." Naruto knew that the civilians wouldn't recognize him as the son of the Yondaime mostly because they never went to the academy where they could learn about the shinobi history of the leaf, so he wasn't in any danger of being denied service anywhere. The two jumped down from the roof they were on and started to walk around the market area in a comfortable silence with the usual little chit chat about their daily lives of each of their own home villages.

They stopped at a small shack that had a large menu that had a variety of food they could choose from, Kurotsuchi knew exactly what she wanted but Naruto had never really changed his average diet of ramen she just asked to get the same thing as Kurotsuchi. The man responded with the usual curt nod and 'coming right up!'. They waited patiently and leaned against the wall of the shack while their food was being prepared, they could smell the aroma of the food being prepared behind them, and they had been hard at work most of the day so they needed something to replenish their strength.

They were served two of the identical dishes right next to each other, Naruto walked up to the window and paid the man before grabbing both plates. The man said "Thank you for your patronage and have a nice date!" Naruto's cheeks flushed slightly and turned to the man "Matte, were not on a date were just friends!"

"Mhm, so then why are you paying? and why are you bringing her food to her and why are you letting her choose where to go and what you two eat?" He said with a smirk on his face.

Naruto's cheeks turned a bright red as he began to think about it, but he decided he wouldn't even continue the conversation with the man seeing as if he did then he would only continue to grow more embarrassed as the conversation dragged on. He just looked down for a second while shaking his head as to ward off the light tint on his face as he walked back to Kurotsuchi and handed her a plate of an assortment of sea food mixed together in some rice and stir fry.

"Thanks Naruto" Kurotsuchi said taking the plate from him "Are you alright? You're a bit red."

"What?! Oh yeah I'm fine, I just asked the man to make it a bit more spicy so I guess he went overboard." he said stiffling a nervous laugh

"If you say so..." She replied _"Why does he seem so nervous now? Oh Kami I hope he doesn't think I asked him to come as a date! Although I wouldn't mind if he... No! bad Kurotsuchi! He's like royalty back in Konoha he has to be with someone already" _She thought as she became strangely angered and saddened that Naruto was most likely already taken.

"Yeah haha *Cough cough*" He said again nervously laughing _"Oh, go why am I so nervous all of a sudden? No, no this is the way I used to feel when I was around Sakura! Kami I can't be falling for her, she lives in a different village for Kami's sake!"_

They both walked in an anxious and awkward silence for the next few minutes as they returned to the training ground, they both were thinking nervously as to what they could say to get another friendly conversation started. She eventually got back to the thought that he was like royalty in Konoha similar to the way she was in Iwa so she decided to ask. "Hey Naruto?"

"Y-yeah?" He answered nervously.

"How was your life in konoha growing up as the sochi to the Yondaime?"

"O-oh, um actually I grew up an orphan and as a jinchurki so most of the town didn't exactly acknowledge me or the fact that I existed, and when they did they would usually send glares my way as I walked by them, I didn't even know that I was a jinchuriki until the day I became a genin about four years ago." He said with some sorrow in his voice

"Oh I'm sorry I asked, never mind lets talk about something else, neh?" she said quickly trying to cheer him up a bit.

"No it's fine, As I grew and became a shinobi the villagers started to treat me better and they finally acknowledged me, when I helped defend against the invasion they started to praise me and it only got better from then on." He continued with a toothy grin

"I'm glad, so what was the rest of your life like?" she asked while taking a bite of her fish.

"Well let's start from when I became a genin, I was put on a three man team with my sensei, I was with this one girl Sakura I was to be completely infatuated with, and then there was Sasuke the last loyal Uchiha to Konoha which Sakura was completely infatuated with." He took a pause to eat a little bit, Kurotsuchi look away for a second when he talked about Sakura but looked back when she realized he had said 'was'

"We were really an odd team, I was completely hopeless back then with a couple strokes of genius, I learned the kage bushin technique on the first day I became a genin, then a month or two later I learned my fathers technique without even knowing it was my birthright." He paused again

"My team and I became very close and we were like brothers and sisters to each other, Sasuke and I quickly became best friends. But then he changed he craved power and broke all bonds with the village to seek the power he so desperately craved. I have tried again and again to save him from the darkness he has sunk so low into, but I cannot save him, I know that there will come a day that I will have to fight him and there will only be one survivor, to insure the safety of my home it must be me." He spoke passionately

"How have you been through so much and yet you seem so happy all of the time always helping others and almost never thinking of yourself thinking of yourself?"

"Before I even became a shinobi and even a short time afterward I had a bitter resentment toward everyone in my village, save a few people, through my career as a shinobi I have learned that emotion is a choice and that choice is and will always be yours to make, you could choose to think about all of the bad things in your life or all of the wonderful things life has to offer. For as long as I could remember I have always shouldered others burdens, I have lived through many peoples pains to see why they are in fact in so much pain. I'm sorry I just went on rambling about my dreams and my future I hope I didn't bug you too much."

"How could you go from such a meaningful conversation to just nonchalantly apologizing to me?"

"Sorry, as I hope I didn't bug you too much, do know any good places we could go sit down instead of walking aimlessly?"

"Yeah I got a couple spots I like to go, although I usually only go there on my own."

"Oh, sorry I didn't want to be rude or anything, by intruding on your special spots, I mean I got a couple back home so I know what they mean to you."

"No, no it's fine I just never brought anybody there before, but I guess there's always going to be a first time for everything right?"

"Thanks, it means a lot that I would be the first person you bring there." He said while rubbing the back of his neck

Kurotsuchi's cheeks grew a bit red but Naruto couldn't really see it to well as she was slightly looking away from him. "Yeah, it's nothing just follow me." She said as she jumped onto a roof top while throwing her food away.

"Alright, let's go!" He said as he chased after her.

They raced for a while and until the sun was very close from from setting for the day, she led him through the rural sides of Iwa were there was a few hills and barren land. She eventually stopped up on top of a large hill that had a small labyrinth of stone and rock to get to a a secluded area set up for a nights camp out, with fire wood already positioned in a pit ready to be lit and a tent that was meant for one person but was large enough for a second. There was also a long mat layed out in a certain way that at night nothing would block your field of view so you could just stare at the stars.

"Alright we made it, this is my home away from home!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed

"Well you sound a lot happier here than back when we got lunch, I like this Kurotsuchi way better than the old one!" Naruto said with equal eagerness

Naruto immediately realized what he said and covered his head with both hands and yelled out he was sorry, but instead of being met with a fist to the head like he was used to he got a little laugh out of her.

"Wait your laughing? I thought you would hit me for sure." Naruto said relieved

"Why would you think that? as far as I saw what you said as a compliment."

"Gomen, I'm used to this one girl i now named Sakura back home who would hit me if I ever mad a joke that made her slightly angry or if I complimented her."

"Oh, are you two..."

"No, I used to have this huge crush on her in the academy but she never paid attention to me, I guess I only liked her because I wanted her to treat me like she treated my former best friend Sasuke, with affection..."

"I"m sorry, but in my opinion you don't need her, and she doesn't deserve you." she said while putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks Kurotsuchi-chan, I needed to hear that from someone other than Kurama. I mean I like that he supports me, him being like a brother to me but I could always use an extra opinion."

She grew red as she heard him say her name in an affectionate way but actually liked it and decided to return it. "N-no problem Naruto-kun, oh and look the sun is setting come on!" She said while pulling him by his wrist to come and sit with her on the mat she had layed out, they sat down with barely any room between the two maybe a couple inches at most. "This is one of the best places to watch, I've always been alone watching and I would always come up here when I feel alone in this world" she continued sadly

"Don't worry, you have me." He reassured her and put an arm around her, she became stiff to his touch and sprang up immediately. "I-it's c-chilly out here don't you think? I'ma grab a blanket." she said nervously as she walked over and into the tent, she came back with a big fuzzy blanket made for the winter. She sat back down next to him and wrapped her lower half in the blanket and leaned back into Naruto's arm

"Where were we? Oh yeah, I have you know huh..." she remembered

A soft but happy smile came to her face as well as an equally soft blush and she looked over at him and her smile became mischievous "...Is that supposed to be reassuring?"

Naruto just drooped his head and said "Awe come on... well I'm here so take it or leave it." he said picking himself back up.

She put on her 'Thinking face' with one hand on her chin while making a 'hmm' type noise while she stared out into the sunset which was half way down the horizon and at its peak of beauty.

After a few more seconds she said "I think I'll take it." In an audible whisper while she scooted even closer to him so she could lean her back onto his shoulder, Naruto reached his arm even further around her in an almost protective manner.

Naruto grew a blush that she couldn't see due to her angle before swallowing hard and mustering out "Ya now, I really like you Kurotsuchi-chan, and this might be a little direct but its not really as a friend."

Kurotsuchi froze for a few seconds to process what he had just told her, since no one had ever told he that "R-really?"

"Of course, what's there not to like about you? You're everything I could want in a girlfriend, your funny your pretty and your not a push over or shy like most girls are." Naruto said a little more confidentially.

"Your the first person to ever tell me that... And I really like you too Naruto-kun, in the same way I mean." She said nuzzling her head into his shoulder, she even unwrapped herself from her blanket and put it over both of them. After she was finished he put the side of his head against the top of hers and wrapped both of his arms around her he asked "So now that that's out of the way, could we call this our first date?"

A warm feeling came over the both of them that put them at ease before she said "Mhm, I think we could" after that the sun finished setting and the stars came out so Naruto leaned all the way back so he was laying down and he took Kurotsuchi with him so half of her back was on top of him and their legs were all mixed up. They stayed staring at the stars for as long as the could keep their eyes open and Naruto asked before he felt sleep over take him "Can we sleep out here Kurotsuchi-chan?"

But he looked down and she was already asleep n his arms, so he got his question answered and he fell asleep snuggling up to her and facing the stars, and it was the best night of sleep either had ever gotten.

* * *

**Well, that's part one, I feel like I rushed it a bit but it also felt right since its a three shot tell me what you thought about in the review section or just P.M me your Q's and I'll get back you you**

**~KyuubiNibi**


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